"What are you but a warped, frustrated young man? A miserable little excuse for a closah crawling off the mound on your hands and knees and begging for help. No saves, no ERA, no wins, nothin' but a miserable BLSV and giving up a homah in 3 straight appearances."

Mike:
Yeah, and send the evil version of Nick from Martini's out for a mound visit.

"Hey look, mister. We want relief pitches in here for men who want to finish the 9th fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere". Is that clear, or do I have to slip you my left for a convincah?"

We forget that Papelbon used to give up gophers on a disturbingly regular basis. What that means is that they need to go with a closer by committee/situation. Bring in the guy you think can get the job done. Sounds easy, but it keeps managers awake nights.

I've never understood why the set-up guy with a .06 WHIP in the 8th inning is not automatically your closer. Truly dominant closers over many years are very rare. It seems like having 3 or 4 solid guys and just going with whoever is on a roll right now would produce more predictable results at a lower cost.

Well, I've got to get back to Bedford Falls (btw, is that a combo of New Bedford and Fall River?). I've got to stop the Building and Loan from issuing any more home loans to people who can't afford them.

On that issue, Old Man Potter was right.

Have a great weekend all. Hopefully we'll have something fun to yak about on Monday.